Monday, December 28, 2015

Priming the Walls

ATTENTION: BORING BLOG POST AHEAD. Proceed only if you require more details about applying wallpaper primer to OSB than the words "applying wallpaper primer to OSB" communicate.

My plan is to cover my walls in wallpaper liner. Wallpaper liner--AKA wall liner, and several other names--is a thick, plain kind of wallpaper that is used to create a smooth, paintable surface where once there was cinderblock, horrid wood paneling from the 70s, decrepit wallpaper, or some other undesirable surface that would be a pain in the neck to remove (like... an OSB SIP skin). It's a pretty simple DIY task with only one real prep step: priming the surface with wallpaper primer.


Monday, November 2, 2015

First Look: Metal and Cedar Siding

I've been meaning to write about my siding, but since it's a step that urgently needs to get done, I've been prioritizing doing over writing! But since I have some photos, here they are...:

Monday, September 28, 2015

Rake Soffits

 The funny thing about shou sugi ban is, because it's so dark, and my camera is so bad, it can kind of just look like... a void.

So, do you see that (apparent) void where you used to be able to see through to the roof sheathing and outriggers? That's actually a 1x6 tongue and groove shou sugi ban cedar soffit! And let me assure you, it is beautiful.

(Oh, and some siding. More on that in another post!)

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Electrical Wiring - Part 1


Disclaimer: Electricity is dangerous, so I am never going to write a blog post about How to Wire a Tiny House as if I'm now an expert or something. There are books about wiring; read those if you really want to know the nitty gritty. All I'll write about are my impressions of the process and my personal experiences with wiring a tiny house made of SIPs.

So, how was it? Well, for at least the first 90% of the process, it was... torturously slow and rife with hand-wringing impasses and ignorance anxiety. One of the first receptacles I wired, I re-wired twice before I was satisfied. I scratched my hands all up, I cussed a lot, I even accidentally stabbed myself in the face with needle-nosed pliers.

This stuff is harder than it looks!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Wheel Well Boxes and Landing

Building something complex like a house involves long series of "Have to do X before you can do Y, have to install Z before you can do Y, have to finish A before you install Z..."

I've been battling my way through such a sequence toward the end goal of installing the siding. Before I can install the siding, I need to install the door--thus completing dry-in--and its trim, and before I can install the door, I need to finish the wheel well boxes and entrance landing, to provide an elevated floor for the door to sit on.

And that landing is finally done!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Life Update: The House Goes On

It's been over a month since my last blog post. Yikes! But not to worry; tiny house construction is still under way, just more slowly, with less blogging activity to accompany it.

My plan for the summer was to work basically full-time on the house, to blog exhaustively about the whole process, and to hold off on other demands on my time, primarily (I thought) job searching. To that, Life has said: "Yeah, right!" And I have replied: "...Yeah! Right!" Because now, instead of having one project--to use the term loosely--I have four. 

Saturday, August 29, 2015

No Worms in the Loft!

The loft joists were one of the first interior structural components that I added to my house. Pretty soon, though, I realized that those joists would just be in the way until I installed a floor over them.

Plywood? Meh. Store-bought decking? Maybe. Hardwood floorboards? Probably too thin unless I lay down a plywood subfloor, and then I'll be staring at plywood from my bed underneath--nah.

But then I learned that my Uncle Chuck had in his keeping a pile of gorgeous 1 1/4" thick, 13-15" wide pine boards that had been ripped out of the floor of a church in Oregon. History, character, conservation of resources!

Hard work!

Friday, August 21, 2015

Window Trim ("Rustic Style")

Window trim is one of those funny architectural components that I never gave much thought to--yeah, yeah, windows have trim, whatever--until I realized that--wait a minute--I have to install some, right now, before I can proceed with the rainscreen and siding and all that. Oh no!

So online I went and executed a flurry of searches--"exterior window trim style," "window trim simple," "shou sugi ban window trim," "modern window trim"...

And pretty much realized that I could do whatever I wanted. Heck yes!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Metal Roof

 Okay, so it's hard to get a picture of the whole roof, and it's not even finished in this picture because we took the ladder down so as not to interfere with the ridge cap installation and then I forgot to take a wide-angle photo after the ridge cap was installed and then the ladder got moved and it's too heavy for me to set up by myself easily and and and...

I have a roof!

Monday, July 20, 2015

Tool Shed

My house has a parasitic twin!

Isn't it cute, though?

We're not done with it, yet, but this will be the "tool shed" for any outdoors-compatible stuff that I'll need to store during my tiny house life. Bike pump, extra hoses and extension cords, a few tools, who knows.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Roof Underlayment

You know when something looks so easy to do when you watch the instructional video? How the people demonstrating it just crank it out like it's nothing? How the instructions sound so simple, almost foolproof? And then when you actually try to do it, it all goes wrong.

Grace Ice & Water Shield, you are so guilty.

Or at least, at first you were.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Bathroom Wall

It's not often that you can get this far in a home construction project before learning how to frame a wall. That's SIPs for you! But even SIP houses (usually) do have conventionally framed walls, since it doesn't make much sense to use SIPs for the interior partition walls.

My tiny house only has the one interior wall, to separate the bathroom from the rest of the house. Too bad there's only one--it came together much more easily than I might have feared, and that was with me working basically by myself.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Fascia, Soffits, and Verge Rafters

Goodbye, rafter tails; hello, roof trim!

I'm using 1x shou sugi ban cedar for my fascia boards, soffits, and verge rafters. It will blend in with the shou sugi ban siding and contrast nicely with the roof and steel siding. Plus, being black and textured, any mistakes or not-quite-tight joints will kind of... disappear into the darkness. Perfect!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Loft Joists and Danish Oil

As you may have noticed in the June 18 post, when I installed the loft ledger boards there were joist hangers already attached. Those ledger boards, glued and bolted to the wall, are there for the sole purpose of holding the loft joists--the structural skeleton of the loft--and the galvanized steel joist hangers are how that connection is made. 

Cutting three pieces of 2x6 the correct length and nailing them into a joist hanger is not that much to write home about. But things got a little interesting due to the fact that these joists--like the ledger board--will be exposed. 



Monday, June 22, 2015

Dry-In: Windows - Day 1-3

With a project this size, you get the hang of a new building skill at just about the same time as you finish the job that required it. These past three days, that skill has been window installation.

The thing is, though, even the first window wasn't difficult to install, per se. We did it wrong, is all: we used too-short nails and forgot to create a gap for sealant along the bottom.

Two lessons learned. But the main one is Lesson 50: Communicate constantly with your work partner--don't assume they know exactly what you think should be happening at a given moment, and double-check that you are both following all the steps correctly. Just keep up a constant patter of checking and double checking and one of you, at least, should catch when you're going wrong!

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Dry-In: Weatherproof Barriers - Day 2

The walls are (almost) completely wrapped and taped! And I'll tell you, I am glad to see the back end of this stage of construction. See: my previous comments about the infuriating nature of Tyvek...

As you can see in the photo, I've chosen to extend the house wrap all the way up between the rafters, nearly to the sheathing. The roof overhang will be so short that I wanted the extra protection there. Aside from that, the coverage is pretty much typical--that is, total coverage, even over the window and door openings. (More about those in a moment...)

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Dry-In: Weatherproof Barriers - Day 1

After attaching the wheel well sheathing today, Dad and I started installing the Tyvek house wrap. It was windy and by dinnertime it had begun to rain. Not fun work, but necessary. I only wish we'd gotten more done before that rain!

(I gloated a little when I saw the other house under construction in my neighborhood. It had an even smaller proportion of its Tyvek installed by the time the rain started. Ha!)

Roof Sheathing, Loft Framing, and More

We finished the roof sheathing! As I feared, we had to use an extra piece of plywood. It wasn't the most efficient job ever. But it's done!

But what's more exciting is that we have now started the interior framing--and closed up the wheel wells, too.


Sunday, June 14, 2015

Roof Sheathing

First two rows of sheathing: complete
Today Dad and I started attaching the plywood sheathing to the rafters. Great! Except...

We had an exchange that pretty much summarizes my feelings about this portion of the tiny house project:

Me: "I guess I shouldn't consider a career in roofing."

Dad: "You'd be the slowest roofer in the world."

Me: "Slow, but very careful... not to fall off."

Yeah. I'm not a huge fan of heights.  Not scared, exactly, just--shall we say--respectful. Wisely respectful.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Lookouts!

Also known as outriggers or ladder rafters, these rafters stick out over the end of the building to support roof overhang at the the gable end, i.e. the rake.

There is a variety of ways that the rake overhang can be framed. I eventually chose to use 2x4s laid flat (relative to the roof slope) and cantilevered, so that they hang out beyond the edge about half as far as they project in. Each 2x4 lookout is attached to two regular rafters: it passes through a notch cut in the first (end) rafter and is nailed there, then continues to the second rafter and is end-nailed to it.

First Look: Shou Sugi Ban

Shou sugi ban, or yakisugi, is an old Japanese technique for treating wood to make it weather-, insect-, rot-, and fire-resistant. It was apparently independently developed in Scandinavia, as well, for the same purposes.

The technique consists of charring the outside layer of wood that is to be exposed to the aforementioned dangers. The charred material can be left on, or it can be scrubbed off. I am scrubbing it off for my project, to make the wood cleaner to handle and to bring out the beautiful grain.

I did my first few pieces--the roof trim pieces--today, and am super pleased with the results!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Rafters and Blocking

I'm starting to get a sense of space inside my tiny house, thanks to the latest big addition: rafters!

Remember when I said I was going to use Western red cedar for my rafters, since it's so much lighter than Douglas fir? Since I'm using 2x8s for added insulation space, weight is more of an issue than strength, and my online sources indicated that cedar is "moderately priced" and only 2/3 the density of Douglas fir. Good plan, huh?

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Walls - Day 8-11 - Top and Cap Plates

First piece of cap plate: installed
We already finished installing the walls. Yay! But there are two more elements needed to create the transition between the walls and the rafters: the top plate and the cap plate.

How about a vocabulary lesson?

The top plate is the 2x4 lumber that fits inside the groove in the foam along the top of the walls. It is required.  It spans the seams between panels and adds another layer of holding-it-all-togetherness, like an extra spline.

The cap plate is the optional (in my particular SIP system) piece of 2x6 lumber, ripped down to 4.5" wide, that goes on top of the top plate. The point of the cap plate is to add extra wall height and/or point-load strength (i.e. so the weight that is transferred down the rafters doesn't deform the wall).

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Walls - Day 5-7 - The Fourth Wall

There it is, everybody. The fourth wall is up (thanks to our neighbor Leif for helping with the big lift!), the window rough openings are all framed in, and we are ready for the top plates. Back to that in a minute...

Yesterday (Day 6:) we mostly spent puzzling over electrical wiring. I had planned to have a very simple wiring schematic, with no complicated three-way switches or anything like that... but then (with Dad's help) I realized two things:

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Walls - Day 3-4 - Almost There

 (~9 hrs)
End of Day 4: 7 of 8 panels installed!
Today started with discovering a puddle of cat vomit on my subfloor. Gee, thanks. To whom do I owe the honor?

The upside to it was that really, things could only look up from there.

And they did! That is, two more wall panels went up today, which, after yesterday's work, brings me up to seven of eight panels installed--and three of four walls completed.

I feel good!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Walls - Day 1-2 - 50% Done

 (~12 hrs)
(Photo credit: Rachel Escher--thank you!)
Walls! Dimensions! My house is starting to look like a house... if you face a certain direction and don't look up!

I had predicted that it would take us three days to complete the walls, but at our current rate of two panels per day, it's going to take four. That's okay.

Big thanks to Mom and Ellen, Chuck, Troy, and Rachel for helping Dad and me these past couple of days! 

Today's post will be photo-heavy because I don't feel like writing. (I feel like going to bed.)

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Sill Plates: 75%

(~6 hrs)

It looks 100% done, but the end pieces aren't bolted down yet.
Sill plates. If you'd asked me what the quickest and easiest step in building the walls would be, I'd probably have said the sill plates. What could be simpler? Just glue and bolt some 2x4s around the edges of the floor, keep them half an inch from the edge, and... there you go!

Plus, the wheel well arches are obviously the hardest part of the sill plate, and I had my plan all laid out for those ahead of time. Boom, taken care of.

So. Dad and I worked for about six hours today--not including a couple runs to the hardware store for supplies--and we got the sill plates about three quarters done.

The first and every lesson is: expect everything to be slower and more complicated than you think, if you've never done it before (and especially if you lack basic skills or physical strength...)! 

Friday, May 22, 2015

SIPs Mayhem!


The long wait for walls is over! The scheduled 8 AM delivery time was too good to be true, of course, but I had my delivery in hand before the morning was out.

Huge thanks and appreciation for Sarah, Rachel, and Jim for helping me and Dad with the unloading (and to my sister Ellen for cooking us sausages)! The panels were maybe not quite as terribly heavy as I expected them to be, but it definitely took all of us to easily maneuver the biggest 8' x 11' pieces. And maneuver them we did...

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Impending SIPs, Roofline Alterations, and the "Tool Shed"

I have my SIP completion date: May 22! That's this Friday! That's so soon! Woohoo! And I broke down and paid for delivery, so I don't even have to worry about driving to Puyallup and back (250 mile round trip, hurray) in a rented truck pulling a giant trailer in Friday-of-Memorial-Day-Weekend traffic.

Worth it.

The delivery is scheduled for 8 AM on Friday. They told me I need four to six people to unload the panels from the truck, although I assume they were imagining brawny construction-worker types, not wobbly-armed neophytes like me, so I'm mentally converting that to six to eight people... haha. I've had a few volunteers so far--thank you! And I get to catch up with a few people that I don't get to see very often, which is icing on the cake, the ketchup on the fries, the salsa on the chips, and all the rest!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Going Green Home - Part 3: Reclaimed Materials

(Part 1: Introduction)

(Part 2: Insulation)

Reclaimed material--or pile of junk?
Tiny houses could be seen as inherently eco-friendly because they use less stuff than a larger house. Obviously; they're smaller! Less stuff means fewer acres of forest logged, less metal ore mined, and less energy used producing stuff, fewer gallons of fuel burned shipping stuff, and (normally) less wasted stuff clogging landfills after the project is done.

But wait, there's more! With each piece of new stuff that you replace with reclaimed and reused stuff, it's like eliminating (nearly) all of the negative impacts of that stuff!

So, what exactly are reclaimed materials (stuff)? I define them as any materials that were saved from the landfill and put to use instead. Most often, they are materials removed from a building that is being demolished or renovated. They could also be surplus materials from a construction job. They could be old wooden beams or logs that have been milled afresh into lumber or flooring or another product. They could be materials that a building supply store or construction firm has had languishing out back for ages and it's time for them to go. They could even be city street or yard trees that had to be removed, and someone milled them into useful wood rather than relegate them to the wood chipper.

But whatever their origin, the basic idea of reclaimed materials is: Use the stuff that already exists, rather than throw it away and waste resources on producing the same stuff new. Good idea, no?

Friday, May 1, 2015

SIP Progress!

I know--I've been away from the blog for a while. Almost three months! But I wanted my next post to be about actual progress toward building my tiny house, partly out of pride and partly out of the fact that we've been having an outrageously sunny and warm late winter/spring and frankly, I couldn't be bothered to drag out my computer and sit in front of it writing non-essential blog posts when I could be out frolicking.

It's nice out today so I'll be spending some time frolicking. Today's scheduled frolicks: some work in the garden and a run on my town's newest stretch of waterfront trail.

But about that "actual progress" that I wanted to write about... yeah, it hasn't been very forthcoming. Until this past week!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

I made a model!

For the past few months, I've dabbled in trying to learn SketchUp, a popular 3D modeling software used by many tiny housers to design their homes. I usually got frustrated because I tried to go into too much detail too soon; after all, I knew what I wanted the details to be--why can't I just get the [expletive] [expletive] program to [expletive] just [expletive] do it?!

Well, today I decided to keep it simple and just make a box to try out some ideas for the siding and roofing. I didn't attempt the roof overhang, wheel wells, trailer tongue, trim, or other little details.

And... I still seriously screwed it up and had to [expletive] [expletive] redo the whole [expletive].....

Anyhow.

Design Thoughts and Updates: Siding, Roofing, and More

Good news, everyone! I heard back from the structural insulated panel manufacturer! It turns out the file format of the plans I sent to him were not openable or something. Drat. I reformatted and re-sent them, but before I re-sent them, I realized that I needed to change a thing or two. Which bring me to the topic of today's post!

I've made some minor changes to my design since I started the blog. I switched plans from a 24"x32" RV bathtub to a standard 32"x32" shower pan. I discovered the possibility of using a fold-away pot filler faucet in the shower stall to serve as a sinkless hand-washing station, rather than a fixed faucet that might get in the way when I'm showering or not reach far enough when I'm using it. I decided that it would be okay for my required 4'6" of bed alcove headroom to be measured between the loft joists, rather than under them--a decision that adds 5.5" to the headroom upstairs, in the loft. I figured out how to hang joists on a SIP wall without interrupting the SIP, by screwing or bolting a rim track made of 2x lumber flat against the interior side of the SIP and hanging the joists with joist hangers from it. And I learned a lot about plumbing and electrical work thanks to a visit to the local library's nonfiction section.

Some of my other design considerations are more of a quandary... or are at least more interesting to discuss.

For example, I wrote an entire post about my electrical system design! But since that might be of limited general interest, here are a few of the more aesthetically-minded design updates.

Designing the Electrical System

Designing a tiny house involves tackling tons and tons of semi-separate, interlocking design problems (in the sense of "math problem," rather than problem problems). One problem that I've been wrestling with lately is electricity. Oversimplified, the big question is just a binary:

Do I need 30 amp or 50 amp electrical service?

But it's tricky. I'm learning a lot about electricity and wiring these days, but I'm still working on this one. Today I sat down and calculated the total wattage and amperage of all the electrical appliances I plan to have to determine whether I need a 50 amp RV electrical hookup, or if I can make do with 30 amps.

In case that's as opaque a concept to you as it was to me a few weeks ago, here are some electricity basics:

Friday, January 30, 2015

A Letter from the Trenches of Materialism

Today was a good day. Today I felt proud and confident of my decision to scale down and pursue a minimalistic, tiny house lifestyle. Today I reaffirmed my commitment to detaching myself from material possessions and living a more mindful life.

Today I helped my 92-year-old great-aunt move.

I grew up across the alley from my great-aunt--whom I call Auntie--and her house was always a second home to myself, my siblings, and even our family pets. A former children's librarian, her wit, intellectual curiosity, and freedom of self-expression made her a role model for me. She still is. She's the kind of person you almost can't help but love.

But like everyone, Auntie has her flaws, and I spent most of today mired in the fruits of one of them: her stuff. She is incredibly materialistic. 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Floor Box - Day 20 - FLOOR BOX RECAP

(2.5 hrs)

The floor box and subfloor are FINISHED! We screwed and glued the last three pieces of subfloor plywood today.

The next step is to add the walls. Since I'm using SIPs--structural insulated panels, a prefabricated wall panel system--the wall installation is kind of out of my hands for the moment. I contacted the local SIP manufacturer a couple of weeks ago and they promptly replied promising to get back to me with a price quote, but I have not heard from them since. Once I get the quote and get some answers to my design/building questions (e.g. What kind of splines do I need? Is there anything I need to do to "hurricane"- and "earthquake"-proof a SIP structure? Do I need a double top plate?), I will place my order. But then it could take a month or more for them to fabricate my panels and deliver them... I really don't know at this point.

So I wait.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Floor Box - Day 19

(3.5 hrs)

Today we installed two more pieces of subfloor plywood (it's halfway done now), roughed in the sink and shower drain lines, and finished the floor insulation.

It sounds so easy when I condense it down to one sentence! The full story after the jump...






Monday, January 26, 2015

Floor Box - Day 18

(2.5 hrs)

Now things are happening! Today I busted out the Roxul rock wool insulation and started installing it in the Tyvek-lined bays of the floor. I thought it would take a longer time than it did; the rock wool was quite quick and easy to work with.

As a reminder, rock wool is made principally from slag--waste rock--from the steel industry. It is melted down and blown or spun into tiny filaments, then pressed into insulating batts (i.e., soft, wooly, but cohesive rectangles of material, like felt). Fiberglass is the only other common type of insulation that comes in batts, and it has a terrible reputation for being nasty, noxious stuff that will irritate your skin, lungs, and every mucous membrane it touches. Rock wool is pretty lovely, in comparison, so I don't think I strictly needed to wear long sleeves, gloves, and a mask... but it was a little dusty, and I was feeling sensitive, so I did.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Floor Box - Day 14-17

DAY 14 (Wednesday, January 21) (2.75 hrs): Today my task was to spray Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks expanding foam in the gap between the trailer and the floor box. Great Stuff is closed-cell polyurethane foam and has an insulating R-value of 6.6 per inch. Since the gap is about half an inch on all sides, that means it will provide about R-3.3 between the trailer and floor box. What does that mean? I don't know exactly, but something good, I'm sure. It will also keep water and air from infiltrating up through that gap and coming in contact with the subfloor, which is probably even more important than the R-value.

I was a little concerned about the foam's performance in cold weather. The label said that low temperatures would adversely affect its performance, and all I could find online is that the ideal operating temperature for Great Stuff is about 70ºF. It was 45ºF today and... it worked just fine. Pshhhaw, worrying for nothing!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Floor Box - Day 10-13

DAY 10 (Saturday, January 17) (0.5 hr): We flipped the floor box! YEAH! My sister and parents, my uncle Chuck, and two friends from high school, Sarah and Becca, helped out. Thank you!!! 

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures during the procedure ("Okay, everybody hold it... hooold it... just a sec... now, smile... got it! Okay, one more") and somehow forgot to take one afterward. Huh... I was pretty foggy that day. I was actually afraid I was coming down with the flu that's going around--my head felt like it was made of clay and I spent the rest of the day half-vegetative watching Netflix--but it passed. So. All good!

Here's a nice picture of the floor when I finally got around to photographing it in all its right-side-up glory (plus the Tyvek that I added on Day 12).

Thursday, January 15, 2015

The Going Green Home - Part 2: Insulation

(The Going Green Home - Part 1: Introduction)

Photo by Jude Hill. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr
Insulation is nominally simple. It's usually fluffy or foamy, airy stuff that fills your walls, ceiling, and floor and keeps the heat where you want it: inside in the winter, outside in the summer. Insulation reduces the need to keep the heater (or air-conditioner) going full-tilt 24/7. Big energy-saver... if not life-saver, depending on where you live!

Help meee!

I've decided it's time to flip the half-finished floorbox. The undercarriage paint is dry and probably hard enough not to get too badly marred by handling, and I've decided what my next steps will be and want to get moving!

Problem: the floorbox weighs about 460 lbs.

SO: I need some helpers! We're thinking this Saturday morning, January 17. There will be muffins or something (and gratitude!). If you want to stick around and help with the lighter work afterward, you're totally welcome to do that, too. No extra muffins for staying, but definitely extra gratitude. :-)

Leave me a comment below or get in touch with me some other way if you're interested, and I'll let you know the details!

Thanks!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Floor Box - Day 8-9

Day 8 (Friday, January 9) (1 hr): Dad and I lifted the floor box out of the trailer bed and laid it on 2x4s across the trailer. This is the first step to flipping it over and setting it back down in place. A car jack was a great tool for this! ...But we'll need a lot more than a jack to get it (eventually) flipped all the way over...

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Floor Box - Day 6-7

(1.75 hrs, plus drying time)                                  

Painting makes for easy--and boring--work days. I rounded out the first week of work on my tiny house by applying two coats of pale green latex house paint to my undercarriage, all of which took under two hours--including set-up and clean-up--and barely broke a sweat.

I was going to stop with two coats, but I may add a third tomorrow. The paint had been sitting in a closet for nine and a half years, had separated, and I wasn't able to shake/stir it enough with my own muscle power--so the first coat was so thin I could still see the color of plywood through it! (Through it and the undercoat of primer...) If I'd had any experience with house paint, I might have known I had to mix it more thoroughly... but I hadn't, so I didn't.

I have a little more experience now, though:

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The Going Green Home - Part 1: Introduction

The environment is important to me. Important enough that I earned two degrees in environmental science. Important enough that I will pursue a career in the environmental sector. And definitely important enough to shape my lifestyle around being green.

How will The Going Home fit in?

Tiny houses on wheels could be considered automatically eco-friendly simply because they are tiny, non-permanent structures. Compared to a normal house, they use and contain a tiny quantity of building materials. They are heated, cooled, and lit by a comparatively tiny quantity of energy. They can be towed away and the land returned to its original state in a matter of months. And by living in one, you can't help but live a less materialistic life--unless you're renting a storage unit in town or have outbuildings to house your toys!

The only necessarily anti-environmental aspect of tiny houses is that the vehicles required to tow them are greedy gas guzzlers. A newer Ford F250, for example, gets somewhere between 13 and 15 miles per gallon, and towing a big load like a tiny house will bump that figure way down; our Toyota Sienna normally gets 19-20 mpg, but while towing the empty trailer, it averaged just 9 mpg. Now, as long as you are parking your tiny house in one spot for a long period of time, the fossil fuel emissions associated with moving will be pretty minimal. Unless, of course, that big honkin' 13-mpg truck is also your daily driver! I hope to get away with just renting one when I need to move, while my daily driver will (fingers crossed...) be the 84-mpg Elio that I reserved as 25th birthday present to myself last year. (Heh, heh.)

But that's hardly the end of the tiny house environmental story. As I've mentioned before, one of the greatest things about designing and/or building your own tiny house is that you can customize it to match your personal tastes, preferences, priorities, and so forth. So beyond simply being tiny and not moving often, there are choices you may or may not make to reduce your tiny house's environmental footprint even more.

I'll be exploring those choices--and my approach to them--in a series of "The Going Green Home" blog posts. I'll post the links below as they come!

The Going Green Home - Part 2: Insulation

The Going Green Home - Part 3: Reclaimed Materials 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Floor Box - Day 5

(2.25 hrs)

Today I got into the paint closet, dug out our selection of exterior paints, and... realized that I should really put down a layer of primer, first.

So Dad and I went to Ace Hardware, got a gallon of Kilz-brand exterior water-based latex primer/sealer, and then set to work!

(Actually... Dad dropped me off at my grandparents' house and went home. Solo work day, womp wooomp.)

(Actually... it was fine.)

Sunday, January 4, 2015

"Why not just...?"

I've seen it in online comments sections. I've heard it from friends and family. When some people first hear about tiny houses on wheels, their first reaction is to ask: "Why not just...?"

"Why not just buy an RV?"

"Why not just live in an Airstream, it's cheaper and lighter."

"Don't you mean, park model? Why not just buy one of those?"

So. Why not just? Different tiny housers will have different answers. It basically boils down to:

"Because tiny houses on wheels aren't RVs/Airstreams/park models--they are tiny. Houses. On wheels."

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Floor Box - Day 4

(3.75 hrs of "real" work)

Ahhh--I am now sitting and relaxing with a bottle of hard cider and a cup of tea after the longest and most visibly productive work day so far. Today Mom and I picked up the insulation from Lowe's, and Dad and I installed the undercarriage. Good day!

FYI: Four packages (~160 square feet) of 5 1/2" Roxul insulation exactly fill a 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan from the middle seats back. Now you know!

Also: I discovered why we ran out of lumber and joist hangers yesterday. I had actually mistaken the number of joists needed in my drawn plans, not realizing that one of the spans in my drawing was greater than 24". When actually building the floor, I saw that the gap was too wide and corrected it with an additional joist, thereby adding two pieces for which I hadn't planned.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Floor Box - Day 3

(2 hrs)

Today we finished installing the floor joists, and I mashed a finger and discovered that I am not quite as good at counting as I had always imagined myself to be. So, a mixed day, but in the end, success!

...Yeah, we ran out of lumber and joist hangers with two pieces left to install. I don't know how I managed to match the number of joist hangers to the quantity of lumber, and yet miscount the number of joists... oh well. Dad made a run back down to the local building supply store for a 8' stick of 2x6 and four more joist hangers while I installed the last couple that we had on hand. No harm done or time lost.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Floor Box - Day 2

Sisterly assistance
(3.5 hrs)

Happy New Year! My sister helped Dad and me out today and we got the center rail and about half the joists installed in a couple of hours. Until we wore out because we were out late on New Year's Eve...